Variety (Aug 1942)

WAR ACTIVITIES Wednesday, Angii&t 5, 1942 "Retnember Septemb^' Billion Dollar Bond Drive Expected Also to Hypo B.O. Showmen figure that film stars, scheduled to liiake personal ap- pearances in connection with the $1,000,000,000 War Bond Drive next month, will serve a double purpose stimulaline public interest in pic- tiu-es while simultaneously promot- ing the sale of Uucle Sam's certifi- cates.- Theatre operators in all parts of the country are clamoring for book- ings of the individual film stars who will tour the country in connection with the 'Stars Over Amerifa' bond- selling campaign in the 'Salute to 'Our Heroes' drive' beginning on Sept. 1.- Meeting at the War Ac- .tivities Committee is to be held next iMonday (10) to round out plaiis {or covering the maximum number of -situations with the players available. In territories where no stars can be sent the Committee is planning 'Hero Rallies,' 'War Mother RalUes' and 'Dedication of Service. Fljigs' cere- monies. Among showmen asking for the stars are A. H. Blank, Iowa chair- man; Boy L. Smart, Charlotte: M. S. McCord, Little Rock; Tony Sudekum, Nashville; John J, Friedl, Minnesota; I. J". Hoffman, New Haven. Kenneth Thomson, of the Holly- wood Victory Committee, is due in New Yoric next' Sunday (9) to sit in on Anal plans for the industry's bond eeUing'drive.. - " . Meantime the campaign book for the September drive 'Showmen at War,' has been sent to 15,000 theatre operators, state chairmen, state ad- ministrations, h\m editors, Washing- ton officials and' others. ' ' GoMberc Over Fromotlon Harry Goldberg, Warner theatres advertising director, has been as- signed to head all screen promotion (Continued on'page 16) ' Good Neighbor Iifeniiion of Socialites in D. C. Canteen Irks Variety Chib, Showmen Washington, Aug. 4. .Washington's Stage Door . Canteen, scheduled to open 'at the Belasco theatre shortly after Labor Day, has developed an Undercover . dispute whtbK'may impair its efficient op- eration as a service center. Amer- ican Theatre, 'Wipg' 'is going; ahead with its plans fOr i buffet supper on the stage of the National theatre (6)', with Mr^. Eleanor Roosevelt as. special^guest and Helen. Hayes a; hostess. Society leaders and vari- oiis organizationshave, been in- vlted. Wing has. opened offices ad- Jqining the theatre on E street with Mrsl Jbhn 'B!'Stohe 'in charge., Variety Club and Washlngtoti *hpW{nen are .nursing some smol- deting resentment over, the manner iii which they are being relegated to the background. They contend they will be callcjd upon t« furnish bulk ol entertainment' and resent intrU' sion of publicity-seeking social lead' ers as dominant figures in the pro motion. One or two mentioned as invited to the buffet supper are on the books of theatre managers as persistent nuisances due to earlier Inipraclical requests.' Meanwhile, Uje Treasury Depart- ment has announced that the Be- lasco theatre, used as a government storehouse, is being readied for the Canteen. Made availalile is the IcJbby, 28 feet by 18 feet; a recrca tion hall, presumably the ample downstairs lounge, 64 feet by 39 feet, and the mezzanine, 57 feet by 14 Icef Ilquipment will be provided by the sponsoring organizations. All, theatres, night clubs, restaU' rants and enterprises employing talent, as well as the various craft ucions, including the musicians, have agreed to assist .the Stage Door Canteen. . Around four. a.m. Friday (31) 'a bunch of soldiers, who missed the bus to Mitchell Field, were doing the rhumba at 44th and Broadway. Their Instructress was. Nina Quiros, - who entertained and had come from a party for the Stage Door Canteen volun- teer 'workers. Miss Qiiiros' is on short wave radio programs beamed to Mexico. She is the granddaugh-. ter of that country's former President Carranza. WB OVERHEAD ON'ARNT FILMING AT NEW LOWS Hollywood, Aug. 4. The production charges against 'This .is the Army,' the Irving Berlin musical being Aimed by Warners, have .been shaved down to cover only wages for the union crafts and the bare cost of raw stock. The pic- ture will not be charged tor the serv- ices lOf Jack ' L. Warner and Hal Wallis, Who are the producers, Michael Curtiz, the director, and Casey Robinson who will write the screenplay with Irving Berlin. Neither will there be any charge for studio facilities. Detroit Showmen Form War Actifities Board Detroit, Aug. 4. Because of the manifold demands these days, war efforts of theatres here have been coordinated into a single body,- the War Activities Board. The decision was reached following a eonference of the heads of numerous theatre war- effort com- mittees in the office of Edward .-C, Beatty, president of the ButterAeld chain. David M. Idzal,' managing director of the Fox who recently' resigned as Backer of the Detroit Variety Club because of war effort demands, was named chairman of the War Activi- ties Board. Other members beside Beatty are Earl J. Hudson, presi dent of United Detroit Theatres 'aind bCD - coordinator here for theatres and public auditoriums; Edward' C. tteiber, manager of Universal Pic tares; Carl W. Buermele, general manager of Michigan Co-ops;, and ^gar £. Kirchner, manager of the Iiamily and Kramer- theatres. It is believed that the'Cenlraliza tion of .theatre war efforts will ,save considerable duplication of effort, provide general programs In the beM interests of all houses and pre- vent a few men in the industry from carrying a disproportionate share of the work which has to be done. WILLIE HOWARD Twenty-aecand ■ueeeMfiii w*«k, "Prioritiee of 1942" at the 46th Street Themtre, New York. "TIte doleful spectacle and bellow- ing Round of Willie Howard's 8tyle were and are Immortally comic." BROOKS ATKINSON, New York Times. FLOCK 0' STARS SET FOR CAMP TOURS Hollywood, Aug. 4. Announcement that 20 top picture stars have already volunteered, for Army camp tours during August and September was made last night! by the Hollywood Victory Committee. Simultaneously, it was stated that seven sttidio publicists have been selected as key advance men for the $1,000,000,000 War Bond and Stamp drive to be- led by the Aim indus- try in Septeniber. Actors who have come forward with offers to forego vacations to participate in the Government's morale-building prograi^ include Burns ft AUen, Joan Blondell, Eddie C^antor, Jackie Cooper, Olivia de Haviland, Kay Francis, Paulette Goddard, Betty Grable, Bonita Granville, LeOn Errol, Rita Hay- worth, Vieronica. liake, Bert Lahr, Merle Oberon, Pat O'Brien, Virginia O'Brien,- Spencer Tracy, Gene Tier- ney and Jane Vfyman. A schedule of tours to every sec- tion of the country where there are troop ' concentrations is now being worked out Publicity reps selected to travel ahead of the stars who will tour the country to sell War Bonds next month are Merv Hauser, Para- mount; Connie Krebs, RKO: Gene Murphy, Universal; Dick Hyland', Warners;. Bob Doman, 20th-Fox; John" del Vallo, Columbia. The Metro advance man will be ap- pointed today. . Bing Crosby and Constancfe Ben- nett embark on tours of Army Camps this week, augmenting the troupe already sent out by the Holly- wood Victory Committee, consisting of' Jeanette MacDonald, Bob Burns ' (Qontinued''on page 61) Uncle Sam's RoP CaO LIchlman's Boy In Navy Memphis, Aug. -4. Dick Lightman, son of M. A. Light- man, has enlistea in the. Navy and left to begin training. . Also oiff to officers' training camp via Fort Oglethorpe is Tony Carruth, Warner exchange salesman the past five years. Jack Galloway, of Spring- field, Mo., Is breaking in' as replace'^ ment. Astoria Army Unit West ' For Ordnance Training Pix Hollywood, Aug. 4. Group'of four training films for the U. S. Ordnance Department will be made at training camps in this lirea ynder supervision of Capt. i>avid Silverstein, \}.. S. Signal Corps, '• ' Capt. Silversteln's unit, based at Astoria, L. L, tmder orders to i-e- turn en^st with the filnis before the «od of August Seller Now Buyer Harry FeUerman, Aim salesman foi: Uhiyersal at its New York-ex- change, is on the other side of the fence as a member of the armed forces. Entering Vpe service re- cently, he has been placed in charge of the camp theatre at Mitchell Field, p. I. He is a brother of Max FeUerman, film buyer for RKO. H'a Llent Pan: Short, USN Washington, Aug. 4. Pjiul Short, for several months ex- ecutive assistant to Chris Dunphy, coordinator of motion, pictures for War Production Board, has accepted a Navy commission and goes on ac- tive duty the first of next month. With rank of lieutenant (senior grade). Short is due to- report for instruction at Harvard University. Short for nine years was assist- ant to Bob O'Donnell,' Texas' cir- cuit operator, and for five years was with National Screen Service. A & C. slnten»ve Mentphb Schedide Is Sample of Hieir AIMhit for U. S. Start Something , Hollywood, Aug. 4; - Three men who ' have worn the world's heavyweight boxing crown are working in a two- . reel film at Warners based on the training and physical con- ditioning of. various branches of the armed forces. Title is 'Champions Train Champions.' Trainers are Jack Dfmpsey, Gene Tunney and Joe Louis, under .supervision of Gordon Hollirigshead, chief of shorts on the Warner lot. THEATRES BOOST FREE CANDY FOR SOLDIERS Detroit, Aug. 4. ■ Theatre Candy counters here are getting marked results with theii' new campaign of 'Share a Candy Bar With a Soldier.' Idea is that when .the -patron buys candy at the lobby bars he lays' the money on the line for another for a soldier or just forgets his change.' ' Evidence of. the kind of results the houses here are getting lies in the 'fact that four houses, Michigan, Palms-State, Fisher and Riviera, had 7,000 candy bars, bought foi; soldiers in three days. The bars for those three days were turned over to the men in Detroit with the Army War Show, Next, week's iTurchases of the gratis. bars for the men in service will be turned over to the soldiers at Camp Custer with most housea here having such t»ndy setups join- ing in the campaign. Belief is that when all houses are in, Detroit can supply one large camp per week with candy, the estimate on the present response being that SO theatres can provide, approximately 125,000 candy bars a week for the soldiers. American Theatre Wing stage Door Canteen Capers NEW TOBK Jnst a Seatoin'- Man . Cleveland, Aug. 4. Kenneth Mcans^ house manager of RKO Palace, who .once made three trips roimd the world as' steward with Dollar Steamship Lines, ts' go- ing back to sea next week. - Leaves for West Coast Aug.' 13 to become chief steward on supply convoy ships, Government service job, after man- aging the RKO deluxer here nine years. It's Lte'ot.' Chode Binyon 1 Hollywood, Aug. 4. Claude Binyon, alimmus of 'Va- riety' and most recently a top' writer at Paramount, Js going into a new job and taking a slight cut in salary. As first lieutenant in the'U. S. Army Signal Corps, Binyon is drawing $166 per month. As'a screen writer he was pulling down $2,000 a week. (Continued on page 34) Such a flurry and a flutter on 44th Street last .Thursday hight! Caused by the launching of the Stage Door C^anteen radio program on WABC and two parties for Thea- tre Wing members. The soiree at Sardi's was Com Products salvo to -Helen Menken and the Theatre Wjng. The jamboree at the canteen, which took place after the last serviceman had. recouped the last hat from the check room, was the Theatre Wing's way of say- ing a heartfelt 'thanks' to the "volun- teers who've worked there untir- ingly and loyally. At 12:15 more than 3,006 members of Equity—and Equity's sister and cousin organizations—waited for ad- mission on 44th Street's sidewalks, where there were lots of reunions, and plenty of introductions. ' Yes, reunions and introductions! The reunions because the boys and gals who work on .different shifts seldom see each other these busy days and lots of - canteeners never have met lots of canteeners who work on other shifts. All of which proves, we hope,- that it ain't a small world—at least not to certain.of us (Continued on-page 63) N. Y. to L. A. James Adams. George Brown. Scoop Conlon.' Mack Gordon. Betty Hutton. Charles W. Koerner. Marjorie Reynolds. Hal Roach. Esty Stowell. . Mike Todd. Harry Warren. L. A. to N.Y. Nate Blumberg. IlKn Chase. Ann Corio. Delmar Daves. Max Gordon. SgL Lesser. Al RogeU. Eddie Sherman. M. J. Seigel. Don Slauffer. By HABBT MAR'HN . Memphis, A\ig.,4i Whatever Secretary ot the Treas- ury Morgenthau .may of' may; not. have said about their publicity, Ab- bott & Costello did a terrific job. for War Bondf in this man's .tdwnV '- Tilt boys blew in by train, at 6:55 ajn. last Monday (27),' and for 24 hours they beat their brains out for the Government's securities . selling campaign. -Not even the oldest showmen could remember -. any in- stance wherein celebrities had worked so hard for free. Or for cash. Arrival stopped traffic at the sta- tion despite the early hour. Com.ics ,were whisked to Hotel Peabody,- where the (^mmercial Appeal, and PresS':Scimitar staged a press-radio breakfast 'with Capt Enoch P. Brown, v. p. and.'general manager, as official host. Though this was pri- marily .a get-acquainted meal, with everything informal, A. '& C. did their, baseball turn for the boys and expla,ined the pitch on their visit,- <(eclarin^ the emphasis for tl>e .-day would be . on the job of exacting pledges to sign the 10% payroll deduction for bonds rather than the outright sale. Interviews, a cleanup period followed. . $582,CM 'Lanoh' At noon the boys guested ii> the P«abody Skyway at a special $1,000- a-plate War Bond luncheon, cost of which had been' footed by a group of local firms. Every luncheon- eater had to buy a $1,000 bond or miore for his plate, resulting in a sale ior the lunch alone of $582,600, (Continued on page 62)' Detroit, War Arsenal, Almost Gives Army Spectacle the Go-By 'Detroit, Aug. 4/ Even with the Ai my Wdr Show! it looks .like you would have to pick your spots. Mechanized show, which palled, into the University of Detroit stadium here for a nine-day * run, came close to being a washout -dur- ing the early phases lintil massed front page, newspaper publicity, edi- - torlals to ^bame 'the ' public,' ads bought by public-spirited citizens, a heavy radio play and other boosters brought it up in its Anal days. - The factor tliat evidently was overlooked here is that a-, great share of the Detroit public is no stranger to the new weapons of warfare. Not only are hundreds of thou.-:and.'> of workers, engaged in the production of airplanes, tanks, jeeps, anti-air- craft guns, etc., but their great prev- alence in this area makes them no novelty to the average citizen.' The result y/as that, with a sta- dium which- had a potential capaeil./ ot upwards, of 20,000 person.?, there were only 7,000 present for the Sjt- vrday opening and light atten-lance of 10,000 both on Sun,day and Mon- day. However, after the press and radio campaign, by Tuesday nighl there were 20,000 out to sit through a bad storm and the show wound up with an attendance estimated at 150,000 and c'lOse to the $130,00ffgoal. A por- tion of this was gleaned . throijgh mass buying of tickets, with' Capt. Billy Sparks, bead of the Sparks Withlngton Co., buying 3,600 for om- ployees, and Ford workevs corhirig through with a mass p'irchase and an additional $500 contribution. Pic Workers'War Bond Buy Passes $3,300,000 Hollywood, Aug. 4. . Workers in the film industry in- vested more than $3,300,000 in War Bonds during the first 15 weeks of the campaign by the Motion Picture Committee' for Hbllywopd, according to a report by Henry Ginsberg, chair- man of the over-all committee. Re- port covers all subscriptions, in- cluding casK sales and payroll sav- ings plans in major studios up to Aug. 1. Current rate of investment indi- cates an annual contribution ot $15,- 000,000 for the war effort, a high percentage in comparison with other industries.